Jennifer Aniston has been plagued with pregnancy rumours and speculation for the majority of her career.
Now, for the first time, the actress has opened up about her fertility struggles in a rare interview, admitting that she tried to have children with ex-husband Brad Pitt and underwent IVF during her struggle to become pregnant, but she now has no regrets that the “ship has sailed”.
Jennifer said she tried to get pregnant for many years and underwent several unsuccessful rounds of IVF in her bid to have a baby whilst also being the centre of media scrutiny for not having children:
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"It was a challenging road for me, the baby-making road,” she told Allure in a daring new interview and shoot where she displays her incredible figure.
"My late 30s, 40s, I'd gone through really hard sh*t, and if it wasn't for going through that, I would've never become who I was meant to be," before adding: "I was trying to get pregnant."
"I was going through IVF, drinking Chinese teas, you name it. I was throwing everything at it," she says.
The success rates of IVF are 25% for maternal ages 38-40 and just 12% for ages 41-42. Looking back, Jennifer says she wished someone had encouraged her to freeze her eggs when she was younger.
"I would've given anything if someone had said to me, 'Freeze your eggs. Do yourself a favour.' You just don't think it. So here I am today. The ship has sailed," Jen, now 53, adds.
"I have zero regrets. I actually feel a little relief now because there is no more, 'Can I? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.' I don’t have to think about that anymore."
While trying to conceive, Jennifer said the journey was made all the more difficult by the constant “bump watch” and speculation over why she didn’t have children. Jennifer also called out the “lies” that her not wanting children was the reason her marriages to Brad Pitt ended in 2005 and Justin Theroux in 2018.
"The narrative that I was just selfish. I just cared about my career. And God forbid a woman is successful and doesn't have a child. And the reason my husband left me, why we broke up and ended our marriage, was because I wouldn't give him a kid. It was absolute lies. I don't have anything to hide at this point."
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